5.2 — Earthquake

You have seconds, the correct action is counter-intuitive, and most injuries are from falling objects rather than from buildings collapsing.

During: what to do

Drop, Cover, Hold On.

Drop to your hands and knees immediately, before the shaking knocks you down.

Cover your head and neck. Get under a sturdy table or desk if one is within a step or two. If not, get next to an interior wall, away from windows, and cover your head and neck with your arms.

Hold on to the shelter and move with it if it shifts. Stay until the shaking stops.

What not to do

Four things, and they are all commonly believed.

Do not run outside. Most injuries in earthquakes happen to people moving during the shaking, and the area immediately outside a building — where glass, masonry and signage fall — is one of the most dangerous places to be.

Do not stand in a doorway. **This is outdated advice from an era of unreinforced adobe construction where the door frame was the strongest element. In a modern building the doorway is not stronger than anywhere else and it offers no protection from falling objects.

Do not use lifts.

And do not believe the "triangle of life." The claim that you should lie beside furniture rather than under it circulates widely and is rejected by essentially every emergency management authority. Drop, cover, hold on is the guidance.

Where you are

In bed: stay there. Cover your head with a pillow. Getting up in the dark on broken glass is worse. Unless there is something heavy directly above you, in which case move.

In a tall building: drop, cover, hold on. **Expect fire alarms and sprinklers. Do not use the lift and do not rush the stairwell during the shaking.

Outdoors: move away from buildings, walls, power lines and trees, then drop and cover.

In a vehicle: pull over somewhere clear of bridges, overpasses, power lines and buildings. Stay in the vehicle with the seatbelt on until the shaking stops.

In a crowd: drop and cover where you are. Do not join a rush for the exit.

On a slope or near the coast: the shaking may be the only warning you get for a landslide (5.8) or a tsunami (5.3). Both have their own immediate actions and they override everything else.

Immediately after

In order.

Expect aftershocks. **They can be nearly as strong as the main shock and they arrive with no warning. The first is frequently within minutes.

Check yourself, then others.

Put on shoes. Broken glass is the most common injury in the aftermath and it is entirely preventable.

Check for fire and gas. If you smell gas, turn it off at the meter if you can reach it safely, open windows, do not use switches or flames, and get out.

Do not use matches, lighters or naked flames until you are sure there is no gas.

Evacuate the building if it is damaged, and use stairs.

And check on neighbours, particularly anybody elderly, disabled or alone. From 1.4: most rescues in the first hours are done by people who were already there.

If you are trapped

Five things, and they are what rescue teams say.

Do not light a flame. Gas and dust are both hazards.

Cover your mouth and nose. Dust inhalation is a serious danger in collapse.

Do not shout continuously. It exhausts you and fills your lungs with dust.

Tap on a pipe or a wall, at intervals. This is what rescuers listen for and it carries far better than a voice. A whistle is dramatically more effective than shouting and is a genuinely good thing to keep on a keyring.

And conserve. **Movement, water, energy, phone battery. Send one text rather than making calls — texts get through congested networks when calls do not.

Preparation, which is most of it

Because in an earthquake the preparation matters far more than the response.

Secure the heavy things. The single highest-value action. Bookcases, cupboards, water heaters and televisions strapped or bolted to walls. Most earthquake injuries are from things falling on people.

Nothing heavy above beds or seating.

Keep shoes and a torch under the bed. Reachable without standing on glass.

Know where the gas, water and electricity shut-offs are, and have any tool needed to operate them nearby (1.4).

Know whether your building is likely to perform. **Unreinforced masonry, soft ground floors with large openings, and buildings that have been extended without engineering are the dangerous categories. This is worth asking about.

And practise. **Drop, cover, hold on, once, with everybody in the house. It takes a minute and it is what makes the response automatic.

Early warning systems

Worth knowing about, because they are spreading.

Earthquake early warning does not predict earthquakes. It detects the first, faster, less damaging seismic waves and sends an alert before the slower, more damaging waves arrive.

This gives seconds to tens of seconds depending on distance — enough to drop and cover, to stop a train, or to open a lift door.

**Systems exist in several countries and some phones deliver alerts automatically. Check whether yours is enabled.

What to do with this page

Drop, cover, hold on. Not the doorway, not outside, not the triangle of life.

Put shoes on immediately afterwards.

Strap the furniture to the walls. It is the single most effective preparation and it takes an afternoon.

Keep a whistle. Tap, do not shout.

And expect aftershocks within minutes.

Next: 5.3 — tsunami, where the warning is sometimes the earthquake itself and the correct response is immediate and simple.